


Sharp Shooter

by williamcain



Series: Yvainn Shepard [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Mass Effect 2, Military, Paragade (Mass Effect), Soldier shepard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 21:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7700776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/williamcain/pseuds/williamcain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard and Garrus discuss her peculiar combat style and its origins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sharp Shooter

"It suits you. It really SHOULDN'T but it does."

Shepard looked up from the stripped down pile of parts that, until recently, had been a complete M-98 Widow. Garrus, in the moment following his comment, had leaned against the wall of the armory, watching the Commander at work.

"What exactly does that mean?" Shepard asked, picking up a bottle of lubricant and applying it to a synthetic microfiber-capped swab. "What suits me?" 

Garrus nodded at the huge rifle's scattered remains. "That...cannon you've been hefting around ever since we hit that Collector ship." 

"Anti-materiel rifle," she corrected, starting to apply the oil carefully to one of the expansion rails. 

"No, my Mantis is a rifle, that thing's a cannon. The manual says you have to secure the thing with a mass effect bipod before firing or the recoil breaks bones." 

Shepard shrugged, moving on to another rail. "I can handle it just fine," she pointed out, removing some barely-visible piece of debris from the new rail before starting to swab.

Garrus laughed. "Yes, but you're a heavily augmented cyborg. That's not exactly an exception that most people get. Also, not quite my point."

"Then what -is- your point, Garrus?" Her current task finished, Shepard set the oil and swab aside, then began the reassembly procedure of the gun. She was efficient, Garrus had to note. Her hands moved with practiced, patient ease. She wasn't as fast as when he'd seen her assembling an Avenger or Lancer, but he chalked that up to her still learning her way around the gun. 

"My point is, you're very good with the thing, but it's in all the wrong ways." She looked up from her work, blankly, then back to it. She didn't add commentary, apparently content to wait for him to explain if he intended to. 

"Look, I mean, it's obviously based on a sniping design." He pushed off the wall and sat on the bench across from her. "Quad-magnification scope in particular gives that away. It's just that it's meant to kill vehicles and emplaced weapons, but you're hefting it around like a Viper or a Mantis. Half the time you barely have it up to your eye when you're taking the shot, and I've seen you use it at ranges an assault rifle'd be better. Even I don't break out my long gun for ranges like we saw at the Blue Sun base. It SHOULDN'T work, but it does. Is this some Alliance thing? Do you do sniping differently?"

"DS." She said, fitting the barrel back into the rifle.

"Beg pardon?" Garrus asked, blinking.

"Designated Sharpshooter, 0321. That'd be my MOS, my Military Operational Specialty." Shepard smiled a bit at the thought. "Snipers are long-range, stealthy killers, right? Sharpshooters are different. We use accuracy-enhanced rifles to break up the enemy in the middle of a fight. Engineer dropping a turret, screened by his guys? I got 'im. Heavy weapons guy coming up from the rear? I got 'im." With the barrel in place, she began to assemble the housing around the firing mechanism and massive bore. "Snipers sit back a bit, we run along with the rifle troopers and extend the squad's range, keep 'em from getting bogged down." 

"...That..once again both fits perfectly and is ridiculous," Garrus said, rubbing his fingers above his visored eye. 

That got a laugh out of Shepard. "Okay, why is it funny now, Garrus?" Her work finished, she slapped the retract and watched the huge gun fold up. 

"It just seems weirdly specific to make that a specialized role of its own! And why use sniping equipment for it?" 

"Usually we don't," Shepard admitted. "Stuff like the Viper or Raptor are popular for it, with less powerful scopes so they don't get tunnel-vision." Shepard stood, taking the rifle over to the armory rack Jacob had designated for her use. She slotted the gun into place, then tapped in the maintenance log via her omni-tool. Garrus felt a slight, VERY slight, pang of guilt at that. He hadn't kept up his own logs since joining the Cerberus ship, even though he made sure to handle his own maintenance. Her attention to detail and procedure was another of those little things that made her who she was, he supposed. Even if she wasn't in an Alliance uniform, the habits remained. 

"I just like the one-hit incapacitation this thing offers. And with the upgrades I'm fast and strong enough to pull it off, so...why not? Sure surprised those Mercs." That got a grin from her at the memory, followed by a wince as the scarring line on her right cheek split slightly across the jaw, sending out a flicker of orange. "Shit."

"That it did. Just, in the Turian Infantry, that kind of thing is just...adapted to. Everyone can do more or less any of the classic infantry jobs in a squad or platoon. We save specialist training for demolitions, E-War..." 

Shepard shrugged. "Don't know what to tell you, Garrus, it's just a thing we have in the Alliance." Her hand went to her jaw, rubbing slightly at the offending wound. 

"Well, how'd you get into it?" Garrus got up, walking over to a medkit and pulling out some medigel. "Here, let me."

"I'm fi-"

"Please." Shepard glared up at him a moment, then gave a self-aware smirk and moved her hand, letting Garrus apply the ointment. He watched her eyes lid slightly at the contact of finger on skin. 

"So," he said, stepping back once the job was done. "You said you were trained for this kind of thing, specifically."

She nodded, picking up the dataslate with the Armory's weapon specs and slotting it into its rack. "Yup. Showed some talent for shooting on the move, so after Rifle School they slotted me into a marksman course for my specialty. Never looked back, It was the first thing I was really, REALLY good at."

"And your implants let you use this thing the way you like to fight," he said, tapping the Widow as he went back to lean against the armory wall.

"...yes, Garrus, I just said that..." Shepard replied, looking like she might be wondering if the rocket hit had left some brain damage after all.

"So, I guess you could say..." Garrus began, a slight buzz in his subharmonics giving his intention away.

Shepard's eyes widened a bit, and she lifted her hands defensively. "Don't you d-"

"..you made the MOS of it." 

Her groan told him that the pun had been completely, utterly worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Formerly titled "Making the MOS of it." Felt I shouldn't telegraph the joke.  
> And yes, aware of the actual canon's use of MVC. Consider this a semi-canon aside.


End file.
